I'm Home
by AstonishedOwl
Summary: [Standing in the doorway...he was finally back. Her little boy.] From both of Sora's parent's PoVs. Post KHII. Too much fluff for your own good.
1. Chapter 1

Glancing at the clock, Rosa gave a small half-smile that was quickly wiped from her face.

Sky-blue eyes sad, she stared into the small cup of hot chocolate she hadn't touched yet. If her returning memory served her right, right about now would be the second of the five or so times that she had to wake her son up to get him ready for school.

Except for in the summer. Then he would usually be out of the door before she and her husband even opened their eyes. He would often declare that, because the school year was so long and the summer so short, he had to spend every second of sunlight with Riku and Kairi.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes again, as they had almost daily since almost half a year ago.

On that day, she had been cleaning the many picture frames in the living room, humming and never recognizing one boy that made a regular appearance.

And then suddenly, something deep within her memory stirred, and she stared at the picture in her hands with mounting horror.

When her husband returned shortly after, brown hair messy, green eyes wide, and face as pale as hers, he found her curled up in a corner of the room, tears falling from her eyes as she gazed into the many faces of the son she had forgotten all about.

Days when the many other children who had played with her son would run into the room, as ashy-faced as she had been and all demanding to know where he was, were worse than that day. She would quietly tell the children that Sora was on a nice long stay to his aunt's house, and that he would be back sometime soon.

Only Kairi received the full truth, after Rosa had remembered that the young girl with red hair and a haunted expression had given her a quietly delivered explanation that Sora was actually traveling between worlds at the moment, trying to find Riku and come back home. On the day that she had remembered that she actually had a son, Kairi had come running up to the house, not knowing that tears were streaming down her face, and explained that she knew that Sora was safe, but refusing to explain why.

The young mother had later heard from Selphie that Kairi had collapsed, and then sent off a letter in a bottle to the boy she had half-remembered. Rosa was glad to know that despite the painfully hopeful nature of the act, at least someone missed her son as much as she did.

It hadn't improved much from there.

Whenever her husband returned to the house from errands, she would often be found sitting in a chair opposite the picture wall, tears silently streaming down her face. She might also be quietly sitting at a table, hot chocolate for two set out, one simply with extra milk, and one with exactly six marshmallows, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, a generous helping of whipped cream, extra cocoa, and a spoonful of chocolate syrup stirred in. And she would be crying again, as she realized that she had even forgotten her son's recipe for "Super-Ultra-Special, Mom-Style, Yummy-Goodness Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Hot Chocolate."

Sighing, the woman got up from her seat, leaving the second mug of hot chocolate out for the time being as she went upstairs, graying dirty blond hair catching the light as she walked the familiar steps to her son's room. It was now in a state that she knew her son would never keep it in, as the bed was made, the many clothes scattered around the floor now stacked neatly in the drawers, and the figures hanging from the ceiling dust-free. She had visited the room far too often, and would explain to herself that she needed to keep the place clean.

Instead, she would usually end up clutching the small, clumsily drawn picture proudly labeled "My Famili," complete with backwards letters and stick figures, as well as a scribbled out drawing of the boy picking his nose, courtesy of his silver-haired friend.

The drawing was simple, and contained a small person with lines in brown crayon sticking out in all directions, dwarfed by two giants holding his hands. And of course, everyone had large smiles on their faces, small dots of eyes still conveying happiness.

Just as she reached his room, she froze as she heard a soft, yet familiar tapping on the door. Blinking away tears, she realized that she hadn't moved as the tune repeated itself, slightly louder.

She slowly climbed back down the stairs, unable to shake herself out of the dream-like state she was in. Before she knew it, she was in front of the door, hand hovering above the doorknob.

And she heard the rhythm once more.

Slowly turning the handle, she opened the door.

A young man stood before her, hand lowered and eyes bright. He seemed so familiar, and yet different. He was dressed in black, over a tight-fitting shirt that brought out the extraordinary blueness of his eyes. His pants were longer than before, but he still had the half-jacket he had gotten for his birthday, as well as his large shoes, because "I don't wanna buy new shoes every two weeks because I _keep growing out of them_!" His body was still slightly lanky, but was significantly more muscled, and had too many scars on his arms alone for her to want to count

And her eyes slowly traveled back to his face, which had a few tears rolling down. His hair was lighter, sunburned by days spent outside, away from her, as well as his tanned arms and face. And it was longer, yet still managed to stick straight up, something that she stubbornly accounted to his father.

She suddenly found herself hugging him, and he was hugging back, something he would never do in public before, but was now doing in front of the three creatures that had escorted him and his friends home.

A small, crooked smile spread across Sora's face, as he very quietly gave a blissful chuckle and spoke, in a voice much deeper than before, that Rosa could feel rumbling in his chest.

"Mom…

I'm home."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**A/N**

Do you like it? Thought of it yesterday, inspired by Rem-Chan's "Another Day in Paradise"

I decided to call Sora's mother Rosa, because it's Sora's name, all scrambled up! I wanted to make a story about Sora coming home. I think I'll add another chapter, or maybe a whole new story, in which meets with his father again, who is apparently out running errands at the moment in my head. If someone can suggest a name, I might include it, if it sounds good.

I wanna update it soon, because I have this GLORIOUS 4-day weekend that I must not waste on only homework! Although I should start it soon…poo.

Reviews are always appreciated!

Up, up, and away! –Flies of to the mystical, nightmarish land of logarithms-


	2. Chapter 2

I'm Home

Chapter 2

If they had seen him as he was slowly walking back to his house that day, a passerby would have never known that the many worn lines on the man's face were from the long-silenced laughter of days past. No, all that remained was a man who had lost all hope, unable to summon the energy to lift his feet high enough off the ground to silence the rasping of his shoes against the cement. Alex finally reached the door, taking twice the time he used to, when he would nearly bounce up the steps in his eagerness to be with his family. He slowly stepped into his house with a quiet hello, carefully avoiding the cheerful gaze of the boy all over the wall as he entered the room his wife was in.

Walking around to give her a hug, and promise her that "he'll come home soon, I know he will", he was taken aback by the emotion in her eyes. Although her gaze was filled with tears, she was smiling again. She gave a quiet laugh, filled with the happiness that had been missing for almost two years.

"He's home."

He blinked for a few seconds, unable to comprehend the hope, hidden but there, that painfully bubbled up in his chest. Her words finally soaked in, and his jaw muscles suddenly slackened. A feeling of numbness passed over him as he slowly, dreamily, glanced up the stairs to a certain room he hadn't been able to step into for such a long time. Unconsciously gliding up the stairs to his destination, he hesitated right in front of the door. His vision became blurry as he intently studied the outline of the doorknob, afraid that his heart might just break if everything turned out to simply be a dream.

"He's in there, Alex."

It was such a simple act, really, but it took all his strength to turn the handle and slowly push the door to his son's room open.

There, on the no-longer immaculate bed. A shadowed shape was sprawled out, feet hanging over the end, sheets tangled around his body. Slow, soft breathing, punctuated by soft snores, drifted across the silence, accompanied by footsteps as the boy's father quietly traversed the room, careful to not step on the many toys littering the floor, until green eyes gazed down at his son. His hair was lighter now, more like his father, who shared the same muscled arms.

The man's shoulders began to shake, laughter and tears both escaping into the air. Rosa, understanding the same emotions that had raced through her that morning, let several minutes pass, allowing her husband process the simple, yet mind-boggling idea that their son was finally home. Eventually, she quietly asked her husband to change Sora out of the travel-worn clothes he was sleeping in and put on his pajamas. At his nod, she left the room, silently closing the door behind her.

Soon after, though, her husband reopened the door, that often-seen, yet always unfamiliar look of seriousness back on his face as he beckoned her into the bedroom.

Rosa gave a quiet gasp as she saw what had made her husband so grim. He had only taken off her son's jacket and shirt, and it was already a horrifying sight.

The boy's chest was a tapestry of scars, some old, some new, and some that still had scabs on them. But directly above his heart was what made the tears come to Rosa's eyes. There, a large black scar proclaimed that someone hated her little baby boy enough to stab him right through the chest.

The mother gave a small, hiccupping sob, then gently reached down to hug her only child, trying her best to also avoid the long, straight burns that decorated his sides. Despite her best efforts, though, the boy still awoke with a gasp of pain, right hand instinctively shooting out in front of him before he realized that he was at his home, being hugged by his mother, not being attacked by the stuff of nightmares.

Giving a weary, sheepish grin, the boy flopped back onto his bed as if nothing had happened. Still half-asleep, he yawned as he began a long, luxurious stretch, joints creaking audibly. Dropping his hands to his side, he started to grin at his mother, only to stop, eyes growing wider as he saw who was behind her.

"D-Dad?"

And once again, the teenager's eyes began to water, before he leapt from his bed, almost tackling the older man. Even after so long a time, Alex still remembered his son's greetings and instinctively reacted, grabbing the boy in mid-jump, pulling him to the ground, and giving him a noogie, neither of them noticing or caring about the tears streaming down their faces. Laughing, Sora ducked out of his father's headlock and grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms to the side as the two began roughhousing like they always had.

Eventually, Sora unwillingly pulled away from his father, only to grab his mother as well and pull his parents into a hug. The boy quietly murmured to the small huddle of people, in a voice much deeper than it had been when he left.

"Mom… Dad…I'm really, really sorry I had to leave, but…now…

I'm home."

**A/N**

Yeah. I know I ended it the same, but I was desperately trying not to use the end of Rem-chan's "Another Day in Paradise", where Sora says "I became a hero." That may just be the best ending I have ever seen.

Eh? Do you like it? Remember, reviews make this author very happy. And when she's happy, this author likes to write. Of course, same if she's really angry at something…or someone (coughcoughlittleannoyingsistercough). Um. Reviews! Please!

If you're wondering about the father's name, it happens to be the jumbled-up name of one of my favorite characters….(whistling while pointing at profile). Anyhoot (yes, I am an owl), I finished the last part of this one day, then decided to move my lazy bum and write the beginning today. Yeah. I have the strangest writing habits. Who knows.

EDIT: Wow. You all are really smart. I never mentioned the cause for the big black scar, and here you all are, figuring it out. –hugs all of the nice reviewers- Ah, and the burns were supposed to be from Xemnas's lightsaber—I mean, laser things.

Thanks for reading, and please review!


End file.
